Far from being a modern phenomenon, the declining diversity of language owes more to broad, civilizational factors, like the onset of agriculture and settlement of large city-states, than it does to the dominance of English in the current international system.
Poetry Practice, Exercise 3
This exercise has two parts: five pairs of unrhymed iambic pentameter, with the first line being end-stopped and without caesuras, and another five pairs with enjambment and caesuras.
Not Endings?
Millions of stories are told set in the “real world,” and no one complains they are less than satisfying because the world hasn’t ended yet.
Science in Science Fiction
this post explores the importance of getting little details right, consideration of the audience in the inclusion of such details, and the role of science in, well, science fiction.
Character Consistency
Change is hard. There’s a reason “change management” is an entire field, one in which many organizations repeatedly fail. In that sense, an effective character arc can be thought of as a novel-length project in character change management.
Gradations of Omniscience
These terms we use – first person, second person (please don’t use second person), third person limited, third person omniscient – are an easy shorthand to describe how we are choosing to approach narration in a given piece. The more I work with different approaches to viewpoint and storytelling, though, the more important I think it is that the description come after the choice of viewpoint.
Reaching for Words
I am more aware of the words I am choosing, I think about the writing itself more with each sentence, and that is a problem. It makes me more aware of the gap, makes the gap between the story I want to tell and what seems to be appearing on the page loom larger.
Some Thoughts on Character Death (And Resurrection)
We can all agree there are fates worse than death, but death can still be considered the “ultimate” consequence because it is, at least under normal circumstances, final.
Saving Your Darlings
To kill your darlings means, during the revision process, to take a hard look at the parts of the story you're particularly passionate about, but which may not serve the overall plot/character/story, and cut them.
Reference Frames
An appropriate choice of reference frame will make things far simpler, while a poor choice of reference frame can make the situation dramatically more complicated.
IGC Publishing 